October has been dramatically warm and dry in much of the United States — and relief is not yet in sight

October has continued a streak of remarkably warm and dry weather across large portions the United States. And as the animation above suggests, the heat, at least, is not likely to relent during the next week.

Halloween will see very warm temperatures across the south and bulging far northward through the nation’s midsection — with temperatures as high as 80 degrees F perhaps reaching as far north as South Dakota. (Click on the thumbnail at right for the temperature forecast.)